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PPC and paid social

Paid search.
Pay for the clicks that become customers.

Paid search, also called PPC, places your adverts in front of people at the moment they search, and you pay only when someone clicks. Managed well, it is the fastest way to reach the top of the results page.

Request a proposalSee what is included

By Chris Richards, Founder and Managing Director, Utterly Digital · Updated October 2026

Platforms
Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta and other paid social
Covers
Strategy, build, tracking, optimisation, reporting
Works with
SEO, so paid and organic support each other
Pricing
Scoped and priced before work starts

Is this for you?

Is Paid Search Right for You?

Paid search suits businesses that need enquiries now, or that are already spending on adverts without knowing what they get back.

  • You need leads while your organic rankings are still building
  • You are spending on adverts but cannot say what an enquiry costs you
  • Your account was set up years ago and has not been reviewed since
  • Clicks are arriving but they are not turning into customers
  • You are launching a new service or entering a new area

Sound familiar? Request a proposal

What Is Paid Search?

Paid search is advertising on search engine results pages, where you bid to appear for chosen searches and pay each time your advert is clicked.

It is also known as pay per click (PPC) or search engine marketing. Most of it runs through Google Ads, with Microsoft Ads covering Bing. The same approach extends to social networks, where you can also pay per thousand impressions.

Unlike organic SEO, the results are immediate and stop when the budget does. The two work best together.

What we do

What Does Our Paid Search Service Include?

We cover the whole account: strategy, campaign build, conversion tracking, landing pages, ongoing optimisation and reporting.

  • 01

    Account audit

    A review of any existing account: where budget is being wasted and where the opportunities are.

  • 02

    Keyword and audience strategy

    The searches and audiences worth paying for, and the ones to exclude.

  • 03

    Campaign build

    Campaigns, ad groups and adverts structured so budget follows what performs.

  • 04

    Conversion tracking

    Enquiries, calls and sales tracked properly, so decisions are based on outcomes and not clicks.

  • 05

    Landing pages

    Advice on, or changes to, the pages your adverts lead to, so more visitors convert.

  • 06

    Optimisation and reporting

    Bids, budgets, search terms and adverts reviewed continually, with plain-English reports.

What you get

What Will You Receive?

You receive an audited or newly built account, proper conversion tracking, ongoing optimisation and regular reporting.

  • Account audit

    A written review of where budget is being wasted and what to change first.

  • Campaign strategy

    Target searches, audiences, budgets and goals, agreed with you.

  • Built campaigns

    Campaigns and adverts written, structured and ready to run.

  • Conversion tracking

    Calls, forms and sales tracked, so results are measured in outcomes.

  • Ongoing optimisation

    Regular changes to bids, search terms and adverts based on what converts.

  • Plain-English reporting

    What was spent, what it produced and what we are changing next.

How it works

How Does Paid Search Management Work?

We audit, plan, build, launch and then optimise continually.

  1. 1

    Audit

    We review your current account, tracking and landing pages, or your market if you are starting from scratch.

  2. 2

    Plan

    We agree goals, budget, target searches and what counts as a conversion.

  3. 3

    Build

    We build the campaigns and set up tracking before any money is spent.

  4. 4

    Launch

    Campaigns go live and we watch the early data closely.

  5. 5

    Optimise

    We cut what does not convert, back what does, and report on the results.

In depth

How Does the Ad Auction Decide Who Appears?

The auction ranks adverts on bid and quality together, so the highest bidder does not automatically win.

Each time someone searches, the platform weighs how much you have bid against how useful your advert and landing page are likely to be. A relevant advert leading to a good page can beat a higher bid, and pay less for the click.

That is why management is about more than bids. Improving quality lowers what you pay for every click.

  1. 1Your bidThe most you are willing to pay for a click.
  2. 2Expected click-through rateHow likely people are to click your advert.
  3. 3Ad relevanceHow closely the advert matches the search.
  4. 4Landing page experienceHow useful and fast the page is.
  5. 5Ad assetsExtras such as links, calls and locations.
  6. 6ContextThe searcher’s device, location and time.
What decides where your advert appears

In depth

Paid Search or SEO: Which Should You Choose?

Paid search buys visibility now. SEO earns visibility that lasts. Most businesses need some of each.

The right balance depends on how soon you need results and how competitive your market is. Many businesses lead with paid search while their organic rankings build, then shift budget as those rankings arrive.

Paid searchSEO
SpeedVisible as soon as campaigns are liveBuilds over months
CostYou pay for every clickYou pay for the work, not the clicks
When you stopVisibility stops with the budgetRankings persist
Best forImmediate demand, launches and testingLong-term, compounding growth
Paid search and SEO compared

Reporting

What Do We Measure and Report?

We report on outcomes you can check for yourself, not activity.

  • Cost per enquiry

    What each lead or sale costs you.

  • Conversion rate

    The share of clicks that become enquiries.

  • Return on ad spend

    Revenue set against what was spent.

  • Wasted spend

    Budget going on searches that never convert.

Why Use Paid Search Alongside SEO?

Because paid search delivers immediate visibility while SEO builds, and each one produces data that improves the other.

Paid search shows within days which searches actually convert, which tells you where to focus your organic effort. Strong organic rankings, in turn, reduce how much you need to spend on clicks.

It is also easier to measure than most advertising. You can see what you paid, who clicked and what they did next. If an account has run for a while without a proper review, an audit is usually the quickest win.

Why Utterly Digital

No guesswork, just great results.

  • Specialists since 2018

    Utterly Digital has focused on search since 2018, from our base in Cheltenham.

  • Tested, not guessed

    Changes are measured. What works is kept and rolled out. What does not is dropped.

  • Sector depth

    Deep experience in energy, insurance, debt, tech and SaaS, where trust is hardest to earn.

  • Clear scope and price

    You know what you are getting, and what it costs, before any work starts.

Proof

The work, and what it achieved.

FAQs

Paid Search: your questions answered

How much should I spend on paid search?

It depends on your market, the cost of clicks in it and what a customer is worth to you. We recommend a budget after reviewing your market, and you stay in control of it.

Do you charge a percentage of ad spend?

Management is scoped and priced with you before work starts. Your advertising budget is paid directly to the platform and remains yours.

Which platforms do you manage?

Google Ads and Microsoft Ads for search, and paid social on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

How quickly will I see results?

Adverts can appear as soon as campaigns are approved. It takes longer to gather enough data to optimise properly, so performance usually improves over the first few months.

Should I do paid search or SEO?

Usually both. Paid search gives immediate visibility and conversion data. SEO builds visibility that does not depend on paying for every click.

Paid search management

Request a paid search proposal

Tell us about your business, any existing account and what you want the campaigns to achieve.

  1. 1

    We reply

    A specialist reads your enquiry and comes back to you, not a sales script.

  2. 2

    We agree the scope

    A short call to confirm what you need, what is included and the price.

  3. 3

    Work starts

    Only once you are happy with the scope and have given the go-ahead.

Prefer to talk? 01242 323 543

We will only use your details to reply to you.

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